Last week, GOP leadership revealed its long-awaited plan to repeal and replace Obamacare by publishing the American Health Care Act. Rather than representing a unifying piece of legislation for the Republican party, however, the proposed legislation created an immediate division within the GOP, with many leading Republicans derisively calling the plan “Obamacare Lite” and others questioning the impact it would have on the number of insured individuals, or stated more appropriately, the number of insured voters in advance of the 2018 mid-term elections.

Despite the lukewarm reception with which it was met, the American Health Care Act moved through the House Ways and Means Committee along party lines; though it did require 18 hours of debate, with Democratic committee members decrying the Committee’s willingness to move the bill forward without a complete measure of its cost or the lost insured.

Yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office answered those questions, releasing its official scoring of the American Health Care Act, and the results are not pretty. An $883 billion tax cut, $274 billion of it going to the richest 2%. $880 billion stripped from Medicare. And 24 million fewer insured individuals over the next ten years.

Let’s take a look at how the CBO came up with the numbers it did. But first, we need to understand a bit about how Obamacare works.

The items in this blog are informational only and are not meant as tax advice. Consult with your tax advisor to determine how any item applies to your situation. A select group of Tax Professionals of WithumSmith+Brown write Double Taxation, and any opinions expressed or implied are not necessarily shared by anyone else at WithumSmith+Brown.

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Authors

Our tax specialists have a comprehensive understanding of international, federal, state and local tax regulations. We work with you to ensure tax reporting obligations are met in an accurate and timely manner, and to minimize or defer the payment of taxes, thereby adding value to your company. Through the use of technology, we stay up-to-the-minute on tax law changes, and know how they affect your business. Through our affiliation with HLB International, we can also assist you in developing cost-effective tax strategies anywhere in the world.